28 jul

Syrian army forces continue to press forward to retake the country’s western city of Homs, after taking control of a historic mosque which was used as a bastion by the foreign-backed militants.
On Sunday, Syria forces gained control over most of the western city’s Khaldiyeh area, including the Khalid bin Walid Mosque.

Syrian sources told al-Manar that Syrian army made more achievements in Old Homs as its forces advanced in Khaldiyeh and killed dozens of foreign-backed militants fighting the Syrian government.Syrian army soldier
Al-Manar correspondent in Homs reported that the Syrian army has recaptured Khalid Bin al-Walid Mosque in Khaldiyeh neighborhood.
He added that militants targeted Homs oil refinery with mortar shells leading to great damage.

Press TV has conducted an interview with Redwan Rizk, political commentator in Beirut, about a report in Israeli media that says Israel has made a 50 million dollar arms deal to supply Saudi Arabia with weapons and equipment for the insurgency in Syria.

On Saturday the Syrian Foreign Ministry sent a message to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in which it notified the Security Council about the massacre carried out by militants in the town of Khan al-Assal 20km west of Aleppo.
The message reads that 132 Syrian citizens – civilians and servicemen – became victims of a massacre carried out by militants from an extremist organisation associated with al-Qaeda.
Hundreds of rebel fighters invaded Khan al-Assal a few days ago to control the area and interrupt food and medication supplies to Aleppo besieged by them, the message reports. The rebels arranged a slaughter of civilians and servicemen taken prisoner in the town.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry places responsibility for this crime upon those countries that support the anti-government gangs in Syria.

Principally, the situation pertaining Syria and the USA has not changed significantly since February 2013, when Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin stated, that:
”the USÂ´s announcement not to arm the opposition in Syria does not absolve the USA from its full responsibility for what is taking place in Syria or the practices of the opposition”.
Also in February, Russia’s Ambassador to NATO, Alexander Grutchko, stated, that NATO cannot see every problem as a nail because it perceives itself as a hammer.

Hyperactivity was observed in the lines of the Syrian crisis – both military and diplomatic – all week. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry had several phone conversations to discuss the preparation for the expected Geneva conference on Syria. The bustle reached its peak on the 26th of July when New York became the site of an informal meeting of 15 UN Security Council member-states with the Syrian opposition represented by Ahmed Jarba, chairman of the Syrian National Coalition.
Vitaly Churkin, permanent representative of the Russian Federation at the United Nations, cautiously reported after the meeting that the delegation of the opposition is prepared to take part in the second conference in Geneva aimed at the settlement of the situation in Syria. This does not mean that the problem of convening the Geneva-2 conference has been solved. However, it is being considered. The main obstacle for the conference is the opposition’s preliminary conditions. In New York the opposition demanded again that the country’s current President Bashar al-Assad should be expelled from the Interim Government planned to set up in Syria.